Uber Lobbied, Used Stealth Tech To Block Scrutiny

Uber aggressively pushed into markets around the world, lobbying political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws, using a "kill switch" to thwart regulators and law enforcement, channeling money through Bermuda and other tax havens, and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, according to a report released Sunday.

Photo Insert: An Uber ad in New York

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices and other documents to deliver what it called “an unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended worker’s rights.″

The documents were first leaked to the British newspaper The Guardian, which shared them with the consortium, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Uber spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker acknowledged “mistakes″ in the past and said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, hired in 2017, had been “tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates ... When we say Uber is a different company today, we mean it literally: 90% of current Uber employees joined after Dara became CEO.″

Uber, which was founded in 2009, intended to circumvent taxi restrictions by providing inexpensive transportation via a ride-sharing app.

The Uber Files released by the consortium highlighted the incredible lengths that the corporation went to establish itself in nearly 30 countries. According to the documents, the company's lobbyists lobbied government officials to suspend their investigations, change labor and taxi laws, and relax background checks on drivers. According to the report, Uber employed "stealth technology" to avoid government probes. The corporation, for example, utilized a "kill switch" to prevent authorities from obtaining evidence during raids in at least six nations. In fact, during a police investigation in Amsterdam, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick personally issued an order: “Please hit the kill switch ASAP ... Access must be shut down in AMS (Amsterdam).″

The consortium also reported that Kalanick perceived the danger of violence against Uber drivers in France by disgruntled taxi drivers as a chance to build public support. "Violence guarantee(s) success," Kalanick texted his colleagues. Although, according to Kalanick spokesman Devon Spurgeon, the former CEO "never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety."

The ICIJ report also disclosed that the company cut its tax bill by millions of dollars by sending profits through Bermuda and other tax havens, then “sought to deflect attention from its tax liabilities by helping authorities collect taxes from its drivers.″

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